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0:00Vanessa:
What is the number one thing that you can
0:02do to express yourself completely when you speak
in English? It is expand your vocabulary. And
0:10congratulations, that's what you are about to do.
Today you are going to learn 10 important daily
0:17life expressions in English that I used and my
husband Dan used in our conversation video about
0:25work and our jobs. And by the end of this lesson,
you're going to be able to use them yourself. Hi,
0:32I am Vanessa from speakenglishwithvanessa.com, and
like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet
0:39with all of today's important vocabulary
for daily life about your work and job.
0:47And at the bottom of this free worksheet,
you can answer the quiz to test yourself
0:52and see if you can really use these vocabulary
words in the best way possible. You can click
0:58on the link in the description to download that
free PDF worksheet today. It is my gift to you.
1:04Let's get started with our first important English
phrase, which is to have no say in something,
1:12to have no say in something.
Well, before I explain it to you,
1:16we're going to watch an original clip
from the conversation where we used
1:21this phrase. Let's take a look at that clip,
and then I'll explain it to you. Let's watch.
1:26my first job was a paper route, which is
where you take the newspaper and you go
1:32and deliver it to your neighborhood. Now,
I'm pretty sure that this was probably a
1:38job that my dad said, "Hey, the boys
need a job. Get them a paper route."
1:44I had no say in this, and I was
probably... I think I was 12.
1:48Dan:
12 or 13, so I was kind of young.
1:50Vanessa:
In this clip you saw Dan say,
1:53"I had no say in choosing this job."
Can you guess what that means? Well,
2:00it means that he had no power in this choice. The
choice was made by someone else. I had no say in
2:08choosing this job. I just did it. Let's take
a look at another example. When I was a kid,
2:14I had no say in what I wore because my mom always
dressed me. Here, you get the idea that I didn't
2:23choose my clothes, my mom chose my clothes. So we
could swap out the word choose and say. We could
2:31say, "I had no choice about what I wore," but you
want to use this advanced wonderful phrase, right?
2:39I had no say in what clothes I wore. All right,
let's go back and watch that original clip again,
2:46and I think you'll be amazed that this time, you
can understand the context even more. Let's watch.
2:53my first job was a paper route, which is
where you take the newspaper and you go
2:59and deliver it to your neighborhood. Now,
I'm pretty sure that this was probably a
3:05job that my dad said, "Hey, the boys
need a job. Get them a paper route."
3:11I had no say in this, and I was
probably... I think I was 12.
3:15Dan:
12 or 13, so I was kind of young.
3:18let's go on to important phrase
number two, which is to be paid
3:24under the table. Let's watch the original
clip, and then I'll explain it to you.
3:29Because you were 12 years old, this is
under the age that you typically work.
3:35So were you paid under the
table, or how did that work?
3:38think we were. I don't remember the details of
getting paid. I remember it was not very much.
3:44Vanessa:
Were you motivated
3:45by money at all at that point? Like, "Oh, I get
a job, I get some money, I can buy some toys"?
3:51I was. I do remember that with
that money, I bought a Nintendo 64
3:55Vanessa:
In this clip I asked Dan,
3:58were you paid under the table? Does this mean
that the boss actually passed the money under
4:06the table? No, this just means that he was paid
illegally. When you pay someone under the table,
4:15it's usually because maybe they are too young
to work, maybe they are an illegal immigrant and
4:22they don't have the documentation to legally
pay them, or maybe it's just a job where we
4:28usually pay someone under the table, like if
you are walking someone's dog or babysitting
4:34someone's kid. Usually we don't fill out
taxes for those types of jobs even though
4:40it's technically illegal. So we could say
this, "When I babysat the neighbor's kids,
4:46I was paid under the table." And you know what,
even though it's illegal, it's pretty common,
4:52and in my opinion, it's not a big deal. What do
you think? All right, let's watch the original
4:58clip so that you can have a better idea of the
context to pay under the table. Let's watch.
5:04Because you were 12 years old, this is
under the age that you typically work.
5:09So were you paid under the
table, or how did that work?
5:13think we were. I don't remember the details of
getting paid. I remember it was not very much.
5:18Vanessa:
Were you motivated
5:19by money at all at that point? Like, "Oh, I get
a job, I get some money, I can buy some toys"?
5:26I was. I do remember that with
that money, I bought a Nintendo 64.
5:30Vanessa:
All right, let's go to our
5:32third important English phrase, which is actually
two, but they have a similar meaning. The first
5:37one is to be on it, and the next one is to be on
my A game. Let's take a look at the original clip.
5:46Dan:
In general, I think I would choose
5:48a workplace because I like to be really active.
So my job now, I'm teaching children, elementary.
5:57So when I'm in a classroom I got to be really
moving on top of it, and basically on my A game.
6:05Vanessa:
In this clip, Dan said,
6:07"I need to be on it. I need to be on my A game."
Can you guess what this means? Well, if you have
6:14ever been a teacher in a classroom, you know that
if you are not completely prepared and completely
6:20organized, those kids will run over you, so you
need to be on it. You need to be on your A game,
6:29and this means you need to be doing your best
to do it really well. Let's take a look at
6:34another sentence. I'm so proud of this project.
I really brought my A game. I was on it. Here,
6:42you can see that. Instead of saying, "I was on
my A game," I said, "I brought my A game." And
6:50it has the same idea that I am just doing my
best. I'm so proud of this project. All right,
6:56let's watch that original clip again so that
you can hear these two important phrases.
7:00Dan:
In general, I think I would choose a workplace
7:06because I like to be really active. So my job
now, I'm teaching children, elementary kids,
7:11so when I'm in a classroom I got to be really
moving on top of it, and basically on my A game.
7:20to important phrase number four,
which is to be in a rut. This is
7:26a good comparison to our previous phrase,
to be on it, to be in a rut. Let's watch.
7:35I don't get that same energy. I just
kind of fall into a... Maybe a rut
7:41is kind of too dramatic of a word, but I
can more easily get into a rut at home.
7:48more motivated when you're on the location?
7:51In this clip, you heard Dan say, "I can get into
a rut at home." If you've ever worked from home,
7:58maybe you felt like this too. You need to
be around other people and out in the world.
8:04Sometimes if you're at home too much, you can get
into a rut. What is a rut? A rut is kind of like a
8:11hole or a ditch. If you are in this hole, in this
ditch, it's not a good place to be, so you need
8:19to figure out a way to get out of that rut. Let's
take a look at another sample sentence of how you
8:25can use this related to your English learning. You
might say, "Vanessa's English lessons help me to
8:33get out of a rut in my English learning journey."
Maybe you are feeling bored or uninspired or
8:41uninterested in English, and then you open
up YouTube and you watch this English lesson,
8:46and you feel energized and excited about learning
English. So I hope that this lesson is helping you
8:52to get out of a rut if you were in a rut before.
All right, let's watch the original clip again.
9:02I don't get that same energy. I just
kind of fall into a... Maybe a rut
9:08is kind of too dramatic of a word, but I
can more easily get into a rut at home.
9:15more motivated when you're on the location?
9:18Let's take a look at the fifth
important English phrase,
9:21which is to be with it. With what? Well, let's
take a look at the original clip to find out.
9:29Dan:
I had to hire basically baristas,
9:33and so the criteria I mainly looked for
was, were they cheerful and presentable,
9:42and did they seem with it, as in would they
be on time? Can they follow directions and
9:50orders? And then of course, I always ask
them about their previous experience,
9:54and usually with the most recent job they
had, I ask, "Why did you leave that job?"
10:02Vanessa:
In this clip,
10:03we said, "Did they seem with it? Could they
be on time and follow orders?" What does it
10:10mean? Did they seem with it? With who? With
what? Well, when you are hiring someone,
10:18you want to make sure that they are able to think
and understand quickly. So instead of saying,
10:26"Does the new employee have the capability of
thinking and understanding quickly"... Okay,
10:33that's fine, we understand. Or you can just
shorten this and say, "Is the new employee with
10:39it?" And it here is that sense of being able to
think and figure out problems. And they are here
10:47in the moment. They're not distracted and thinking
about other things. That is not being with it. So
10:54it's possible, maybe when you were in high school,
maybe you were not with it. You didn't study well,
11:02you didn't pay attention in class, you always were
missing assignments, you were not with it. And
11:08then as you got older and either went to college
or got a job, you realized, I need to be with
11:15it. This is an important skill. So hopefully you
have been able to grow that skill over your life.
11:23Let's take a look at the original clip that
used this fun expression, to be with it.
11:27Dan:
I had to hire basically
11:30baristas. And so the criteria I mainly looked
for was, were they cheerful and presentable,
11:40and did they seem with it, as in would they
be on time? Can they follow directions and
11:48orders? And then of course, I always ask
them about their previous experience.
11:52And usually with the most recent job they
had, I ask, "Why did you leave that job?"
11:59Vanessa:
Our sixth important expression,
12:02that's a tricky word to say, sixth important
expression is to be taken. Well, I could take
12:11something, but this was used to talk about Dan.
Dan is taken. Did somebody steal Dan? Oh no,
12:21they kidnapped my husband. No, that's not
what we're talking about here. I want you
12:25to watch the original clip and guess what
do you think to be taken means? Let's watch.
12:31Dan:
Also for that coffee shop, most of the people
12:36who worked there were women, and so I had to kind
of be a little careful who... That made actually
12:42hiring guys harder just because a lot of times if
you get a guy who's single and giving off these
12:49signals, then it just ends up building this kind
of tension and drama. And so I was the married
12:56guy there. And Dan's taken, it doesn't matter,
whatever. I gave them relationship advice, but-
13:04Vanessa:
You just heard Dan say, "Dan is the married
13:09guy. He's taken." Well, here, our clue is married
guy. Does this mean he is romantically available
13:18and looking for a girlfriend? Well, I hope not.
He is taken. That means his heart is taken by
13:26someone. By who? Me. So if you are in a romantic
relationship with someone, you don't have to be
13:33married, but if you're in a romantic relationship
with someone, you can say, "I'm taken." Oh, and
13:40this means you're not looking around for someone
else. Your heart belongs to someone else. It could
13:46be seen as kind of a possessive word, right? Take,
he took my heart. But really, we usually use this
13:52as a very romantic phrase. I'm taken. Someone
has taken my heart. It can be a very romantic
13:59thing. So in the conversation, Dan was explaining
how there were a lot of women who worked at the
14:04coffee shop where he worked, and a lot of times
those women would ask him for relationship advice.
14:11They had boyfriends and they wanted to know,
"Dan, how can you have a good relationship with
14:16Vanessa?" And in fact, one time... This is so
sweet, I think. One time one of the employees
14:22brought a notebook, and they said, "Dan, give
me your relationship advice. I'm going to write
14:28it down." I thought this was so sweet. So
he was the one who was just there to work
14:35with them, be the boss, and maybe give some
relationship advice on the side. All right,
14:40let's watch the original clip so that you
can see how this phrase to be taken was used
14:46for that coffee shop, most of the
people who worked there were women,
14:51and so I had to kind of be a little careful
who... That made actually hiring guys harder
14:57just because a lot of times if you get a guy
who's single and giving off these signals,
15:03then it just ends up building this kind of
tension and drama. And so I was like the married
15:09guy there. And Dan's taken, it doesn't matter,
whatever. I gave them relationship advice, but-
15:19The seventh important vocabulary expression
is to take for granted. This is a really
15:26important phrase that I want to make sure
that you understand both in English and the
15:31meaning for your life in general. So let's
watch the original clip so that you can see
15:36how it was used. You get the same vacations
as our children because you have the same
15:43schedule and all of that. So you're able to
take care... You take the kids to school and-
15:48Vanessa:
... manage their school life,
15:49which as parents know, managing your
children's school life is a big deal.
15:55that's something that I kind of
take for granted, because yeah, I
15:59take Theo to school with me. Nobody has to drop
him off or anything because he just goes with me.
16:05Vanessa:
In this clip,
16:06you saw Dan say, "Taking our children to school is
something that I take for granted." Do you think
16:13that Dan is grateful that he can take our children
to school every day? No, he doesn't really think
16:20about it much. But when he reflects, he realizes,
oh, this is something I should be grateful for.
16:29So this phrase, to take something for granted,
is something that you should be grateful for,
16:36but usually you don't even think about. And there
are so many things in our modern world that we
16:41just take for granted that our ancestors
or other people in the world would be so
16:48grateful. For example, free English lessons on
YouTube. Can you imagine our great-grandparents,
16:56if they had the opportunity to learn English
for free on the internet, first, they would say,
17:02"What's the internet?" But also this is such an
incredible tool that we just think is so normal,
17:09but it's something we should
be grateful for all the time.
17:13So this is something that I try to
do. I'm not always successful at this,
17:18but when I realize that I am
taking something for granted,
17:22maybe that is the opportunity to work from home,
maybe that is someone special in my life that
17:29I haven't thanked for a while, I try to stop for
a moment and be grateful. Wow, I'm so glad that I
17:37get to work from home. My baby is napping in the
other room, my kids are playing happily outside,
17:43and I can still be your English teacher.
I'm so grateful for that. I don't want to
17:49take that for granted. So if there is something
in your life that you are taking for granted,
17:55or someone who you are taking for granted who
is important and special and you haven't thanked
18:01them recently, this is my little life challenge
for you, I challenge you to thank that person,
18:08or in your mind, be grateful for the opportunity
that you have that you're taking for granted. All
18:14right, let's go and watch the original clip
so that you can see how this phrase was used.
18:19You get the same vacations as our children
because you have the same schedule and all
18:25of that. So you're able to care...
You take the kids to school and-
18:30Vanessa:
... manage their school life,
18:31which as parents know, managing your
children's school life is a big deal.
18:37that's something that I kind of
take for granted, because yeah,
18:40I take Theo to school with me. Nobody has to drop
him off or anything because he just goes with me.
18:47Vanessa:
The eighth important English expression
18:50that we're going to talk about today is to seek
out something. This is a great phrasal verb,
18:56and I want you to see how it was used in the
irregular past tense in this clip. Let's watch.
19:05to do it because we have flexible jobs
that we've sought out. We've also gone
19:11through a lot of transitions in our
life where, oh, this isn't working,
19:15this is terrible. Then you're reworking
stuff, and then you get into a better place.
19:20Vanessa:
Yeah, I do feel like-
19:21Dan:
You got to be able to
19:21be willing to change directions like that as well.
19:24Vanessa:
In this clip,
19:25Dan said, "We sought out non-traditional
jobs," sought. Wow, sometimes English is
19:33just so weird. The original phrasal verb
is to seek out, but in the past tense,
19:39we say sought. Notice that the G in the H are
completely silent. Why is there a G and a H? I
19:47don't know. Why don't we just say seeked? Beats
me, but here we are. This is an irregular past
19:53tense verb. We sought out non-traditional jobs.
And the idea of this is that we were actively
20:01looking for something. It didn't just magically
happen. It didn't just fall in my lap. No,
20:08we tried to seek out non-traditional jobs so
that our life could be more flexible. And I
20:14know this is something that not everyone can do.
It's a real privilege to be able to seek out a
20:20specific type of job that you want to have, but
this is a great phrasal verb that you can use.
20:26What is something that you're seeking out? I
sought out online English lessons, and here I
20:32am. I was looking for you, Vanessa. I'm so glad
I found you. I'm so glad you did too. All right,
20:39let's watch the original clips so
that you can see how this was used.
20:42Dan:
We are able to do it because we have flexible that
20:47we've sought out. We've also gone through a lot
of transitions in our life where, oh, this isn't
20:54working, this is terrible. Then you're reworking
stuff, and then you get into a better place.
21:00Vanessa:
Yeah, I do feel like-
21:00Dan:
You got to be able to
21:01be willing to change directions like that as well.
21:03Vanessa:
The ninth important
21:05English expression is a fun one, roundabout,
roundabout. We're not talking about when you're
21:10driving and you go around a circle. That's called
a roundabout. That is not what we're talking about
21:16here. Take a look at the original clip and see if
you can guess how we used roundabout. Let's watch.
21:23If you're trying to do a million
things at the same time, at the end,
21:26you're just going to feel frustrated. At least
that's how I feel. I got nothing done because I
21:31was trying to do everything at the same time. So
I'm constantly trying to simplify my life because
21:38there's lots going on. So anyway, that's the
roundabout answer for this very tricky question.
21:44Dan:
In other words,
21:45you just got to figure it out somehow.
21:47Dan:
There's not a one size fit all answer.
21:49Vanessa:
In this clip you heard us say, "That's
21:52my roundabout answer for this tricky question."
Do you think that we answered the question
21:59directly? No. Instead, we went a
little bit here, a little bit there,
22:05maybe wiggled a little bit in the middle.
That's my roundabout answer. So here,
22:10we were just acknowledging, I know that
I didn't answer the question directly,
22:15but I hope you understood in the end. That was my
roundabout answer. I'd like to give you another
22:21example with kind of a fixed phrase that we often
use. Take a look at this. In a roundabout way,
22:28he was trying to ask her on a date. So maybe we
can imagine he feels a little uncomfortable about
22:35asking her on a date and he doesn't want to say,
"Hey, would you like to go on a date with me?"
22:40So in a roundabout way, this is a
fixed expression that we often use,
22:44in a roundabout way, he was trying to
ask her on a date. Maybe he said, "Oh,
22:50my weekend is not very busy. Oh, what are you
doing this weekend? Oh yeah, well, I was thinking
22:55about going to this restaurant. Well, what about
you? Do you like fish? Do you want to go?" Okay,
23:01this is very roundabout. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't, but in a roundabout way,
23:08he was trying to ask her on a date, not
directly, in a roundabout way. All right,
23:14let's watch the original clip so that you
can see how this fun expression was used.
23:18If you're trying to do a million
things at the same time, at the end,
23:22you're just going to feel frustrated. At least
that's how I feel. I got nothing done because I
23:26was trying to do everything at the same time. So
I'm constantly trying to simplify my life because
23:33there's lots going on. So anyway, that's the
roundabout answer for this very tricky question.
23:39Dan:
In other words,
23:40you just got to figure it out somehow.
23:43Dan:
There's not a one size fit all answer.
23:45Vanessa:
And our 10th and final
23:47important English phrase is on the table. Well, we
already talked about being paid under the table,
23:55but here, on the table. What could this mean?
Let's watch the original clip to find out.
24:01For now, maybe in your life, if you're feeling
really stressed by this work-life balance, lay
24:06everything out on the table. What is necessary?
How can I cut back so that I feel more balanced
24:11and happy? I think you owe it to yourself, you
owe it to your family, and yeah, you'll just be
24:16a better person for it. In this clip, you heard me
say, "Lay everything on the table and see what you
24:24need to do to have more work-life balance." Do I
think that you should empty your pockets and your
24:32purse and put all of those items on the table? Not
literally, but figuratively, you should do that.
24:40So you should put on the table, do I need
this expensive car? Do I need to live in
24:45this neighborhood? Do I need to purchase these
things? Do I need all of these various things in
24:52order to make my life the way that I want
it? And maybe your answer is going to be,
24:58you know what? I think I can sell my car
and get a really cheap car. Maybe I can
25:03move to a cheaper neighborhood and be close to
my parents and they can help take care of my kids
25:09instead of paying for an expensive daycare.
Then I can have a better work-life balance,
25:16less expenses, and maybe work less
too. Okay, here, you are really
25:21deeply considering all aspects of your life.
This is a pretty deep and heavy thing to do.
25:29But if you're feeling like your work-life balance
is absolutely not what you want it to be, well,
25:35it's important to put everything on the table.
We could say put everything on the table or lay
25:43everything on the table. So you might even use it
in a workplace situation by saying something like
25:48this, "I laid everything on the table when
I told my boss that I wanted a raise." You
25:56really explained all the situations, all of your
personal benefits, all of your accomplishments,
26:03everything that you bring to the company, all
of the successes and the progress. You put
26:10everything on the table. You laid everything
on the table and hoped that your boss would
26:17recognize that you're valuable and give you a
raise. So here we're talking about figuratively
26:23seeing all of those accomplishments.
All right, let's watch this final clip,
26:28and I want you to hear how this was used
in the original conversation. Let's watch.
26:32For now, maybe in your life, if you're feeling
really stressed by this work-life balance,
26:37lay everything out on the table.
What is necessary? How can I cut
26:41back so that I feel more balanced and
happy? I think you owe it to yourself,
26:45you owe it to your family, and yeah,
you'll just be a better person for it.
26:49Well, congratulations on learning these 10
important English phrases for daily life so that
26:55you can talk about your work and job. And now, I
have a question for you. Remember that fun word,
27:01to be taken? Let me know in the comments, are you
taken? Let us know in the comments. I can't wait
27:07to see what you have to say. And don't forget
to download the free PDF worksheet with all
27:12of these important expressions, definitions,
multiple sample sentences. And at the bottom
27:19of the worksheet, you can answer the quiz. Test
yourself and see if you've really learned these
27:2410 important phrases. You can click on the
link in the description to download that free
27:29PDF worksheet today. It is my gift to you. Well,
thank you so much for learning English with me,
27:34and I'll see you again next Friday for a
new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
27:40But wait, do you want more? I recommend
watching this video Next. This is the full
27:46conversation lesson where Dan and I talked about
our jobs, including Dan's first job where he did
27:53something not very nice. You can find out what
it is in that video, and I'll see you there.
